Animal I Have Become
by The Smokey Gerbil Cloud
Summary: Murtagh was transported to the School by magic, and they perform procedures on him. By procedures, I mean they kill him, drain his blood, modify his body and then pump blood back in, allowing him to be just like the other recombinant beings. No Romance.
1. Inprisonment

(A/N):#*READ THIS*#

Hey Guys, welcome to my new story! As you most likely know by now, this is a crossover between Maximum Ride and the Inheritance Cycle. The other characters from both series will come into it later. SO far, the only characters we have seen from either of them are Murtagh and Jeb (the first white coat.) So uh, I just thought I should inform you of this, seeing as I forgot to add it into the story, but this prologue is set about fifteen to twenty years before Angel Experiment begins, and just after Eldest ends, though there are some bits from the later books in this. Hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Absolutely nothing, except for the sub plot line.

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><p>Confused, that's what Murtagh felt.<p>

Well, amongst sadness and just an inkling of fear. Not for himself, no, but for Thorn. What would Galbatorix do to his dragon when he returned to Uru' Baen without him? He was also cold, sitting in his overly small cage, pressed against the cold metal bars. He could snap them in half with magic easily, but he was intrigued. What had happened? What was that swirling ball of green energy that had enveloped him as he had been hunting? It wasn't any magic that he knew, and he wasn't exactly a novice when it came to that department. Cramped as he was, he was still glad that he wasn't trapped inside Galbatorix's castle.

From his position in the cage he could see that the walls of the room were pure white, along with the floors and any surface that wasn't made of sterile looking metal. Around the room he could see other humans trapped in the tiny cages as well, if you could call them humans. Many of them were deformed in some way, others beautiful, but not what many would call 'normal'. There were a few who he could tell were on the brink of the abyss, mostly because their internal organs were now _external_ organs. The beautiful ones, however, were the ones who looked the most alive. One girl, he saw, was covered in feathers. Like, _covered_. He could barely see her eyes. They weren't those of a ravens, no, but perfectly human, except for the fact that the iris as well as the pupil was midnight black.

Another boy had scales running down his arms, legs and chest, climbing up his neck even, but they stopped at his ankles, wrists and about midway up his neck, like a suit of armour, and what looked to be gills on the side of his neck. Silently, he wandered what their names were, but he resolved to stay silent until he could get some answers.

Suddenly, the doors on the right of him opened, and he had to crane his neck, his cheek pressed against the bars of his cage to see what was happening. Four men in identical crisp black pants, plain white shirts and even plainer, long white coats. The man in front was roughly twenty-five summers old and had short cropped blonde hair and intelligent blue eyes seemingly made larger by what looked to be two glass lenses cut into an oblong shape and held to his face by a metal frame. Two of the other men were nearly identical, both older than the first man, and had jet-black hair shaved rather short. They both had almond shaped eyes, the irises both chestnut coloured, and bore a certain sharpness, the same sharpness he had often seen in Galbatorix's eyes. Their skin was pale, like that of the late traitorous Twins. He would definitely need to watch these two, he decided. The fourth man had chin length, coppery coloured hair, tanned skin and eyes the colour of jade held up to the sunlight. He had a warm smile on his face, while the other two were glaring at him. The first man, however, wore a grimace, he studied him with his eyes gently before he opened the bolts on my cage and let the two threatening looking men drag him from the cage. He struggled fiercely, managing to release his arm from one of the henchmen, but the other immediately dug something sharp into his upper arm. Murtagh didn't even yelp in pain as the shock of it passed through his system, he had been tortured by Galbatorix enough times to know not to scream when someone's hurting you. Turning his head to look at the weapon the man was using, he realised that there was no weapon, the man had long, sharp _claws_. Glancing up at his face he saw that the once handsome face had transformed into that of a wolf's, his arms had grown hairier, as had his arms. A quick look at the other man had showed him the same.

_What is this place?_


	2. Before the Flock: Five Years Later

(A/N): Hey Guys! Second chapter today, and yes, I know it's rather short, but I promise that they'll get longer. Now, I had a little trouble working out the timeline of this story, so I'm sorry for any mistakes I may have made. In the prologue, you may have noticed that Murtagh had called the dog carriers 'tiny cages', this was because my sister pointed out to me that he wouldn't know what a dog carrier was. Now, this chapter has slightly morbid bits, but I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the sub plot line, Raven and Mitchell or 'Fish'.

Reviews:

Anon: I thought I explained this but... Thorn's still back in Alagaesia.

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><p>Murtagh<p>

I had been in the School for almost five years when the other recombinant beings were created. By then, they had moved me to a room of my own, seeing as I always fought with the guards, they didn't want to give me the chance to escape on the journey between the Locker Room, which is what I call the room with the cages, and the Arena. The Arena is practically a really large room with every challenge you could imagine. Obstacle courses, mazes that never seemed to end, and my personal favorite, the Erasers. Basically, it was a fight to the death. I couldn't use my magic, I couldn't risk them finding out a way to use that against me, but I could still kick some furry Eraser ass. That first day here, they had dragged me away from the Locker Room and into an Operating one.

They had knocked me out, and the next time I woke up I had wings. Yes, _Wings!_ I couldn't believe it either! There were a lot of things I wasn't expecting from this world, and one of them was being able to soar high above the clouds again. Of course, I wouldn't be with Thorn, but I would find him one day. I would go back to Alagaesia – if he wasn't already dead of course. No use stabbing a rotting corpse, right? When I'd regained consciousness, after the experiment, they had explained the procedure to me. They had tried to make recombinant beings with wings before, but they had always died or been horrible fliers, so they had tried to find someone with magic in their veins to experiment. Apparently, I was their top choice, but I honestly doubted that.

They had knocked me out, and then killed me. yes, they stopped my heart, put me in suspended animation of sorts and drained me of almost all my blood. They had then pumped me full of new blood, human blood mixed with avian. Soon after, I started growing wings. It was excruciating, the pain. I felt everything, every feather as it grew on my body. I had actually grown taller too, but only slightly, seeing as I was already rather tall. My wings were completely black if you looked at them, the darkness you saw underground. Underneath though, they were blood red, the colour reminded him of Thorn's scales shining in the sun as they flew through the skies, far away from Uru' Baen and the King's Castle. Knowing that I wasn't from this world, the White Coats had strapped me to a chair in front of what they call a 'television' and made me watch everything they could find, bringing me up to date on their world.

Despite the White Coats attempts to keep me secluded, I had made friends. Only two though, many of the other recombinant beings died off early. They were the two I had seen in the cages on my first day, the girl covered in feathers, and the boy with the scales. Her name was Raven, aptly enough, his Mitchell, though we usually teased him by calling him Fish. Raven's feathers were retractable, but she usually kept them out, seeing as they were a pretty good ward for enemies or White Coats. By retractable, I mean they folded into her skin, covering her with what looked to be scars if you didn't know they were there. What they actually were though, was the outline of feathers. Mitchell couldn't retract his scales or his gills, but they would be easy enough to hide with the proper clothes. They were my only friends, the only people I would speak to. I was usually in isolation, so I only got to talk to them in the Arena. Our specialty was something we called star-strike, we all stood back to back fought, all sides protected but the front. Another one was throwing-star, where there were two groups of people were attacking us, Mitchell or I threw Raven at the other group where she attacked them with her main weapons, a set of throwing knives, while the other one guarded the others against attack. Usually it was me guarding, in case I missed one (ha, unlikely!), Mitchell was armored well enough so that it wouldn't kill him.

I hadn't talked to anyone other than those two for almost five years, though sometimes I was forced to talk to Jeb Batchelder, the White Coat who had been there on my first day. He wasn't half-bad, but I wasn't sure if I could trust him.

Of course, this all happened before the other recombinants were created.


	3. Flashback

(A/N): Hey Guys! Third chapter in, well, not a day, considering it's past midnight, but hey, have fun with it. Now, this chapter has got some rather strong violence in it, so you may want to get the younger kids out of the room. Hope you like it! (Well, not the violence but).

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the sub plot line, Raven and Mitchell, or Fish.

Flashback: _Flashback_ A.K.A: _Italics_.

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><p>Murtagh<p>

I had rarely seen the group of recombinant beings that called themselves the flock. They consisted of Max, the eldest and the Leader, Fang, second oldest and second in command, Iggy the next oldest, third in command and a blind, pale, strawberry blonde boy who I could tell would grow up to be almost as tall as I was. Next was Nudge, a dark skinned, dark haired girl who never stopped talking. Then there was Gazzy, a blonde boy who looked innocent at first glance but was actually one of the most mischievous people you would ever meet. And last, but certainly not least, was the baby of the family, Angel. She was literally the baby, seeing as she was only two-years-old, but growing up fast with her newly acquired power of mind reading. Thankfully, her telepathy could be easily held off with my mind-shield, otherwise she would be like Elva, only a baby, but more knowledgeable than anyone remotely close to her age. Thinking of Elva made his stomach hurt, for it reminded him of his life back in Alagaesia. What had happened there? Was Galbatorix dead? If not, was Eragon? Nasuada? What about Arya? Shaking his head he cleared the thoughts from his mind before he could reach Thorn.

Switching his thoughts back to the Flock, he thought of the first time he had met them officially, instead of just passing them in the hallway. It was a few years back, maybe nine.

_I had walked into the Arena, dressed in the pair of white sweat pants and hooded shirt, that would usually be loose, but on me, because of my size, was rather body hugging, actually making it easier for him to move. I had a pair of soft soled leather boots that were more like slippers, and I immediately scanned the Arena, my eyes seeking out my two friends, Raven and Mitchell, or Fish as they liked to call him. Locating them, I noticed that they were surrounded by six other experiments, those I recognized as 'The Flock'. Raven noticed me first with her super-enhanced raptor eyes, and waved me over, causing Mitchell to look up and smile before returning to the Flock. The oldest girl, Max, lifted her head as I neared, her eyes narrowing slightly at my size. There I stood, towering over her. She must hate it. _

"_Morning." Mitchell said, turning his attention to me, receiving only a nod in return; I didn't want to talk in front of the others. _

"_They called you in too huh?" Raven said, catching my attention. She was sitting further away from the Flock than Mitchell was, excluding herself. "Must be something important as they called in the muscle man." Raven teased, earning herself an eye-roll as I sat on the steps next to her. They weren't steps exactly, more of a steep set of bleachers, really. _

"_Hi!" A small, childish voice full of innocence said from my left, and I turned my head to find a three-year-old boy with blonde hair, blue eyes and a cowlick staring at me with a wide smile. Staring at him blankly for a second, I noticed that Max had tensed up behind him. _

"_Hi." I said, my voice, though still as deep as it had always been, was slightly hoarse. It had been a while since I had last spoken. The little boy smiled again and turned away, crawling into Max's arms as she cradled a little one-year-old girl that looked like the spitting image of the boy. _

"_I think that's the first time I've ever heard you talk to an outsider." Raven muttered, though still loud enough for the Flock to hear._

"_Outsiders? Weren't not outsiders." Max insisted indignantly, glaring at Raven._

"_What she means is, our friend here is basically a mute when it comes to anyone but Raven and I, and sometimes Jeb, when he has to anyway." I saw Max glance at me out of the corner of my eye before I stood up drawing everyone's attention. I was standing barely three seconds before Geoffrey walked over with his clipboard.  
>"You're up." I nodded stiffly before heading to the almost empty weapon rack beside the entrance to the Arena floor. Grabbing my usual hand-and-a-half sword, I headed into the Arena, the door sliding shut behind me before the usually white walls turned clear so that the White Coats and the other experiments could watch whoever was in here. Focusing, I closed my eyes, letting my mind open slightly, enough so that I could hear snippets of people's thoughts, my hearing enhanced so that I could hear when the Erasers arrived.<em>

"_Are they crazy? I saw a kid go into this one yesterday, and he didn't come out! Well, not in one piece anyway." Max whispered to Mitchell, her voice as loud as if she had just whispered her words into m ear._

"_Heh, this is his specialty. Taking down mass groups all on his own, with only a sword. Trust us, we've been here much longer than any of you, he can take pretty much anything." I turned around and grinned at her before tapping my ear lightly. A blush spread across her face and she glanced down at the ground before her gaze flicked back up as the second door in the Arena opened, and a dozen Erasers raced in._

_A cruel smirk spreading on my face I stared the first Eraser down, and he hesitated. Just long enough for me to stab him in the gut with my sword, that is. The second was too close, and I had to raise my knee into his groin, incapacitating him momentarily before I stabbed my blade through his back. Two of them raced at me at the same time and I nimbly stepped out of their way at the last minute, half grinning as they smacked into each other, knocking themselves to the ground, giving me opportunity to stab them both through the chest. Seven kills later, and I was down to the last Eraser, and we circled each other, our weapons raised, him with his wolfish claws and fangs and I with my sword. Without warning he charged at me and my mind analyzed him, searching for a weakness in his approach. There were dozens, so I chose the simplest. I landed a hard kick to his knee-cap, and I heard a snap as he shrieked in agony, collapsing onto one knee, hunched over. Taking the opportunity I raised my word over my head and brought it down upon his neck, slicing his head clean off. Wiping off my sword on my once white pants, I placed it back on the weapon rack and stalked from the Arena, heading back to my own room. _

And now, the Flock had escaped, with none other than Jeb.


	4. Meet Murtagh

(A/N): Hey Guys! Here's another chapter, but it's set after Angel is kidnapped. So uh, everyone liking the story so far? The Flock comes into it soon, so I hope you're looking forward to it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the sub plot line and Raven and Mitchell.

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><p>Murtagh<p>

Two years later, Jeb had returned, without the flock. He had set up the meetings with me again almost immediately, but I still refused to tell him about Alagaesia. He was curious, but who wouldn't be if they were confronted with the fact that other worlds besides theirs exist? The members of The Flock and I weren't extremely close, not like I was with Raven and Mitchell, who knew about where I came from, but not my past, but we had become friends, and I was glad to see them get out of here. I still rarely talked to them, and Max had once said that I was like Fang in some ways. Given the fact that we both had black hair, practically silent and usually wore dark clothes, I could see her point, but I could also see the differences between us. I mean, I doubt Fang has ever killed anyone that wasn't an Eraser, unlike me. I bet Fang was never under the full control of an evil king, like me. In look though, the differences were the fact that while his eyes were black, mine were brown, and his skin was olive while mine was tanned. Also, his hair was jet black, whereas mine was between black and brown, and hung below my chin now, I hadn't had it cut in a while.

So now, two years after Jeb had come back to the School, the Eraser's walked in dragging a burlap sack between them, inside was something clearly alive.

"Let me go!" Even after four years, I remembered the voice of the young blonde girl, Angel. They through her in the cage next to mine. During one of the tests, I had punched an Eraser who was guarding me in the face hard enough to dislodge teeth, so they had thrown me into an undersized dog carrier in The Locker Room. Raven and Mitchell sat side by side in their cages across from me, grimaces covering their mouths. As soon as the Eraser's left, Angel pulled off the sack and pushed it through the bars with a disgusted look on her face.

"Angel?" Raven asked quietly from across the room, causing Angel's head to snap up.

"How do you know my name?" She asked curiously, though her tone was tainted with suspicion.

"What, you don't remember us? We're hurt." Mitchell said, patting his shirt above where his heart was.

"We were here in the School before you were born Angel." I said bluntly, looking at her from between the bars of our cages.

"You were? What's the name of the rest of my family?" She asked sceptically.

"Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy." I replied dryly, running my index finger lightly over the bars of my cage.

"How do I know you're not just a mind reader?" She asked, causing me to grin.

"Last time I saw you, you were two-years-old, and your telepathic abilities had already grown in. Why don't you just read their minds and see if we're lying?" She raised an eyebrow, biting her lip as she glance across the floor at the other two.

"Why couldn't I just read your mind?" She asked curiously, ringing a smirk out of me.

"I dare you to try." I challenged, staring at her from my cage. Her eyes fluttered closed and she squinted slightly after a second before her eyes were flung open once more.

"I can't!" She exclaimed and I smiled at her warmly.

"Trust me, that's a good thing. Wouldn't want to ruin your innocence just yet, eh?" She nodded unsurely before turning her attention to the door as it swung open.

In walked Jeb. His eyes darted to Angel for a second before he turned to me.

"The other scientists and I have decided. For your punishment, you will be staying in that cage for another week." He said, his eyes sparkling slightly. He knew that I liked it in here, with my friends. The only reason it was a punishment was because of this damn cage.

Not an hour later did Jeb walk in with six burly Erasers to escort us to The Arena.

"Isn't that many Erasers a little over-kill?" Angel whispered to me and I grinned at her.

"Actually, it's under-kill." Jeb told her over his shoulder. "But these are purely for security purposes. Besides, half of the Erasers are still out from the last fight an experiment had with them. Isn't that right Murtagh?" I grinned at him before the grin changed into a smirk at the sight of the Eraser I had punched in the face yesterday. He was missing three teeth.

"Now Angel, since this is your first day here, we're going to pair you up with another experiment. Would you like to choose one of these three to be your partner for the first test?" Jeb suggested, and I felt Angel turn to look up at us.

"I think…I'll work with you." Looking down I realised she was looking at me. "What are your names anyway?"

"Raven." Raven said, un-sociably, though with a wry smile on her face.

"My names Mitchell!" Mitchell announced, looking proud. Out of us three, Mitchell was the youngest and most tender and forgiving.

"I'm Murtagh. It's a pleasure to meet you. Again." I said the last part with a chuckle, smiling down at her.

"That's a strange name." She said, not impolitely, wrinkling her nose.

"And Angel is perfectly normal?" She paused for a second and turned to me with a smile.

"Did you choose it or did someone else?" I winced. How was I going to keep my home a secret?

"My mother gave it to me." I replied reluctantly, ignoring her widening eyes.

"Your mother?" She whispered just before we entered The Arena, her eyes widening more if that was possible.

"First up, Experiments 226 and 372." I rolled my eyes and waited for Raven.

"Our names are Raven and Mitchell you nitwits!" She screeched, causing every White Coat or Eraser in the room to roll their eyes.

"Lets just get on with it Ray." Mitchell suggested, half dragging her towards the Arena box. As soon as the door shut behind the walls went clear. They faced the new prototype, which was basically a gigantic Eraser. They easily defeated the monster by darting in between its legs and hacking at its knees, and then snapping it's neck, a tough feet considering its head was a almost twice their size. We watched four more partnerships go in, three of them dying, before Angel and I were called up. Entering the room we were confronted by two dozen Erasers, all grinning their wolfish grins.

"How are we going to do this?" She asked, clearly frightened and skeptical to our abilities.

"Like this." I said before grabbing my sword, twirling it in my hand before striking out at the line of Erasers. Two fell immediately, long, deep slashes cut into their stomachs, a third roared in pain as my blade cut through the skin of his upper arm. I watched Angel carefully from the side of my vision, making sure she was safe the entire time while I was cutting down the first line of Erasers, her the second. Suddenly, one of the Erasers from my line turned and launched himself towards her.

Knowing I didn't have time to form the words, I warned her the only way I could, with my mind.

_Angel! Watch out!_ A look of surprise crossed her face, but she dived to the side either way, leaving the Eraser to slam into one of his comrades.

"T-thanks!" She stuttered, peeling herself from the floor before turning back to her foes. Not three minutes later, we exited the room, my sword dripping with blood and gore. I handed it to a disgruntled looking Geoffrey before returning to Raven and Mitchell with Angel trailing behind me.


	5. Escape

(A/N): Hey Guys! So um, I actually updated this chapter earlier. To another story. I didn't realize it until like, 5 seconds ago. I had cleaned out my Doc Manager, so I had to re-upload the whole thing. So...it should have been up like, three hours ago or something, if I wasn't so stupid. It should be evident after the first few sentences that Raven has a crush on Murtagh.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Raven and Mitchell.

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><p>Raven<p>

I had been stuck in this hellhole they call a laboratory for 27 years now, with only Mitchell, my biological brother, and Murtagh for company. My brother had golden-blonde, curly hair that barely reached his jaw, pale skin and light blue eyes and was naive and caring. Also, he was covered entirely in pale blue fish scales except for on his hands, feet and head. Murtagh however, was what I would call handsome. He has tan skin, chin length hair between black and brown in colour, brown eyes and wings, the top feathers black, the bottom a blood red. He hadn't aged a day since we had first met him, but he had stubble coating his cheeks recently, the White Coats didn't let him shave in the Locker Room, and when he did shave in his own private room, someone had to be there with him all the time, in case he attempted suicide. We had known for a while now, that he wasn't from this world. He was from a place called Alagaesia, but whenever we asked, he refused to talk about it. He was usually silent with anyone that wasn't Mitchell and I or Jeb when he had to, but when the Flock was here, he used to talk to them. Albeit rarely, but it still hurt me. I felt like Mitchell and I's friendship meant nothing to him, but when I had mentioned it to him, he had scoffed, saying nothing in this world meant more to him than my brother and I. And then he had pulled me into a tight hug, the first time I had ever seen him hug anyone before. He was lethal, in a fight, Mitchell and I had witnessed that many times over, in the Arena, or even in the halls when the Erasers said something to offend him. Usually though, he was kind, charming and funny. The one time I had talked to him about his Alagaesia, while Mitchell was sleeping, he had told me that even with the White Coats and Erasers that he liked this world better. He hadn't explained why, but I always assumed that there was a reason.

Six days after Angel had been thrown into a cage in the Locker Room, Erasers had come in baring five more bird kids and shoved them into the cages around us. It had taken them a while to wake up, but when they did, they didn't speak. That is, until Maximum Ride, their leader woke.

"Max." Angel whispered as her sisters eyes fluttered open, the look on her face filled with fear and concern.

"Angel?" Max whispered back, blinking owlishly from inside her cage.

"Yeah, yeah, touching reunions aside, the White Coats will be coming back for you soon so you may want to escape before then." I snapped, glaring at them.

"Raven, calm down." Mitchell murmured, staring at me concernedly.

"I know you." Max said quietly, causing me to stare at her.

"What?"

"I know you. From before we escaped this hellhole the first time. And you, and…" She paused at Murtagh, her mouth gaping. Oh, yeah, it probably would be a big shock for someone you saw years ago to look the same, wouldn't it?

"Yeah, I get that a lot. It's probably because I'm so damn handsome." I raised an eyebrow and Murtagh grinned at me.

"What, I can't joke anymore?" I stared at him for a while before shaking my head vigorously. "Fine, fine." Murtagh sighed, staring at a wall faux glumly, a smile hidden beneath his frown.

"Would you do the honors?" I asked him, wrangling a grin onto his lips.

"Why, sure." He pushed himself so he was sitting firmly up against the back of the cage, positioning his feet against the thin metal door and drew back his legs before slamming the soles of his feet against the metal bars, the door coming clean off. "Well, that was easier than expected." He muttered, climbing out of the cage carefully. "They really don't make cages the way they used to." He stated as his feet hit the floor silently. He walked along our cages, unlocking them as he went. Sliding out of my cage I flexed my knees, rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck before turning to face the others.

"Okay, anyone escaped from enemy territory before?" The entire flocked raised their hands and I rolled my eyes. "Without the help of a White Coat?" They lowered their hands as Murtagh raised his, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Back in Alagaesia I used to escape enemy territory twice a day. Not exactly an easy feat when you have the entire Varden after you." I looked just as confused as the others did. Never had he spoken so much about his past, and he had never mentioned any 'Varden' before either.

"What's the Varden?" Angel asked quietly, staring at him.

"Now, if I told you that, you'd have to learn over one hundred and fifty years of history before that. Do you really think this is the time for that?" She shook her head 'no' and Murtagh leant against the door gently, peering out of the small circular window. "Okay, the coast is clear. Hurry!" He whispered, pushing the door open to let us through. We rushed down the gleaming white hallways, careful not to make too much noise, but a wrong turn led us back towards the Arena. We skidded to a stop in front of a thick band of Erasers, who stared at us dumbly. One, I noticed, was the Eraser Murtagh had punched in the face nearly a week ago.

"Oh, hello again." Murtagh said to him pleasantly, before drawing back his arm and punching in the face, hard. The Eraser fell to the ground, unconscious, and the other Erasers stared down at him for a second before looking back to Murtagh, who glared at them fiercely, his gaze coated with poison. The Erasers charged, and it was on for young and…well, younger. In less than a minute, the Erasers were defeated and Murtagh pushed the door to the arena opened before I could tell him not to.

"What did you do that for?" I whisper shouted at him, furious at the fact that we were about to get caught at any second.

"Just act natural." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, causing my eyes to find his lips before I hastily averted them.

"Murtagh!" Geoffrey exclaimed bounding up, making me cringe as I thought we had been caught.

"Geoffrey." Murtagh said curtly, staring the man down as he noticed everyone behind him. Suddenly, Geoffrey's eyes glazed over slightly and he started walking, Murtagh following him. The rest of us rushed to catch up with Murtagh's long legs. Geoffrey led us out the door on the far side of the arena, out into a hallway, up a few stairs, then down some, and to a heavily padlocked door. He pulled a key from the chain around his neck and fitted it into the first two padlocks, and then pulled out a different one and undid the last three, allowing the door to slide open. The Flock and Mitchell rushed ahead, out into the rocky, sandy ground around the Death Valley school.

"Thanks for your help Geoffrey." Geoffrey nodded dumbly as Murtagh grinned at him. "Slytha." He whispered, causing Geoffrey to fall to the floor, seemingly asleep.

"What the hell was that?" I asked him quietly as soon as we were outside, the door locked behind us.

"What the hell was what?" He asked nonchalantly, though I could see that it was only just hiding his nervousness.

"That. You said something…like, um…Slytha!" He winced slightly and I grinned at him triumphantly, waiting for an answer.

"Nothing. Look, even if it was something, we can't exactly talk about it now, now can we?" I shook my head reluctantly before he turned back to the Flock and Mitchell. "Okay, time to leave this dump in our dust." With that, he barreled forward in a full sprint, running only a meter or two before leaping into the air, unfurling his wings and pushing them down quickly, again and again, over and over until he was flying comfortably. "Well come on, what're you waiting for?" I had never flown before, and neither had Mitchell or Murtagh, that I knew of, but following his methods, we were soon in the air along side the flock, just as the alarm started blaring. "Uh oh, time to go." Murtagh didn't seem the least bit worried that we were now flying over a hundred feet above the ground, whereas I was feeling nauseous, scared and like I was going to fall out of the sky, and Mitchell looked about the same. Whereas my wings were made of feathers and a deep black, almost purple shade, Mitchell's were covered in scaled and the same colour as the rest of him, pale blue. I saw Murtagh look back at him with a sad smile, as if he had recognized an old friend that had recently been crippled or something. Beating my wings harder I caught up with him, and, soaring along side him, I finally felt at ease.


	6. Cave and Thoughts

(A/N): Hey Guys! Now, I know it's been a little while since I've updated this story, but I suddenly got this hankering to write this story last night! Of course, with it being me and all, I didn't actually get started until about an hour ago. Okay, so, I realised that, after rereading this section int the book, that I completely stuffed up the escape from the school, but I think it'll be fine like this. So, the Flock are together again and Murtagh, Mitchell and Raven have finally escaped from the School! Isn't that great? Well, anyway, Murtagh is still being secretive about his past and the fact that he's from Alagaesia around the flock, so there's a little bit of suspense. You think, what is he going to tell them!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mitchell, Raven and the subplot line.

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><p>Murtagh<p>

Two Hours later we arrived at a cliff top where a great flock of giant eagles circled like vultures looking for a meal. I shuddered at the thought, remembering the buzzards that had preyed upon the dead at the battle of the burning plains. I sighed as we landed, redirecting my wing so my descent would slow enough so that I could land without dropping on my face, which was a concept Raven and Mitchell didn't seem to get. I chuckled loudly before helping them off the ground.

"It isn't fair! Why the hell are you such a good flier?" Raven groaned angrily as she took my hand, trying to brush the dirt from her now brown clothes.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just a natural." I replied, shrugging as I pulled her up with a grin on my face. 'Or maybe I just understand the laws of physics better, I don't know." Mitchell coughed and I watched as a spoonful of dirt fell from his mouth back onto the cliff top.

"Remind me to never do that again." He moaned, rolling his shoulders to try and rid himself of the ache of using his wings for so long after a lifetime of sitting still.

"Oh, I will." I said with a dry chuckle before turning on my heel and entering the cave behind me with the flock. We entered the cave and Gazzy and angel were snuggled up against Max's sides, Fang was leaning against the cave wall and Iggy and Nudge were sitting in the middle of their little circle. Raven and I sat as far away as possible from the flock, Mitchell laying between our two groups, trying, as always, to get along with anyone he could.

"So, how was your day?" Raven whispered almost silently, making me smile as I looked at her from across the two foot gap between us as we lay on the floor near the entrance of the cave.

"Oh yeah, brilliant. What about yours?" I whispered back, a quiet chuckle escaping my mouth.

"Oh, best day ever, definitely." A wide grin made it's way onto my face as I sat up. "What're you doing?" Raven asked, causing me to turn to look at her over my shoulder.

"I don't sleep much, so I'll keep watch." Her eyebrows furrowed, her smile turning into a frown.

"Really? Because I seem to remember that back in the Locker Room you slept like a log." She said, raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

"That's because I didn't have anyone chasing me. I never sleep well when I'm being chased." I turned to scan the surrounding area outside the cave, but I still saw her eyebrows furrowed again before she shook her head and lay her head down on the cave floor. "Goodnight." I said with a small smile on my face, waiting for her response.

"Night." She whispered tiredly, her voice slightly muffled as her cheek was pressed against the floor. I sighed, settling in for a long night.

Rain started falling just as the sun began to rise, a rare thing in the desert. I stuck my hand outside the cave entrance and smiled as the cool droplets landed on my skin. Max appeared next to me, looking out at the rain.

"How old are you Murtagh?" My lips quirked and I resisted the urge to laugh at her.

"Much older than you." I answered bluntly, still staring out at the dampened cliff top.

"Yeah, but Raven and Mitchell are much older than me as well, but I know for a fact that you're older than them." I turned to look her in the eye, sizing her up until her eyes dropped uncomfortably.

"Yes. I'm older than them." She sighed in exasperation, looking like she was about to slap me.

"How much older?" I turned my hand over so that the cold drops landed on my palm instead, washing away the dirt that hid my Gedwey Ignasia. I felt her staring at it, her mouth hanging open slightly as the full image was revealed.

"What is that? A tattoo?" This time, I did chuckle, and loudly too.

"No, not a tattoo. A mark." She glanced up at my face, I could feel it. After so many years of being chased, I had learned to know when people were looking at me.

"What happened? How did you get it?" I chuckled and sighed at the same time, remembering just how I had gotten the mark.  
>"I met the most important person in my life, nearly twenty-two years ago. That's how I got the mark." I replied as the others started waking. With a deep breath, I took a step out of the cave and into the rain, letting the dirt, blood and bad memories wash off of me. Not all bad memories would leave me, not ever. I hated the School, but it had been heaven compared to being in the King's control, it really had. At least in the School I wasn't forced to fight against those I cared for. Just that one thought made my mind turn back to Nasuada. Of course, when wasn't my mind on Nasuada? I had almost killed her so many times since the Twins had kidnapped me, but I had never wanted to hurt her. Even now, I wished I was back in Alagaesia, even if it meant being under the King's rule for a thousand years if it meant keeping her safe for even a second. I tilted my face towards the sky, letting the rain wash my own hair out of my face, saturating my clothes. I stepped up to the edge of the cliff and looked over the side, remembering when Thorn and I had flown across the edge of the Hadarac Desert to the Battle of the Burning Plains. A wave of guilt washed over me as I thought of all the people I had murdered. Not just the slaver, Torkenbrand, whose death was necessary, not the countless Varden soldiers I had killed before Eragon had reached me, not even King Hrothgar, the King of the Dwarves, but the innocent villagers that hadn't been hiding Varden workers in their homes. I had murdered them in cold blood, just because <em>Galbatorix<em> had told me to. No matter how hard I had fought against him, I had been forced to act out his wishes in the end. He had used my body to kill Oromis, the crippled old elven Dragon Rider. I should have just let him kill me, let this whole thing be over, let _Galbatorix_ have one less weapon to use against the Varden, against Nasuada, against Eragon, even against Arya for gods sakes, and I didn't even care for her that much! It probably would be better if I was dead, but I wasn't about to give up, no. Besides, in the past twenty years, _Galbatorix_ will have been without his right hand man, A.K.A, me. So, I guess, this is better for everyone involved. Well, except the King. I mean, the Varden had one less powerful Dragon Rider to defeat, and I got to stay alive. The only problem is being away from Thorn for this long. God, I miss him so badly! It's like someone has ripped off my wings! Whether or not I want to or not, I _will_ make it back to Alagaesia, and I _will_ kill the King, and I _will_ find Thorn and never leave his side again.

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><p>(AN): Now, the reason Murtagh is such a good flier is because he's obviously shared a brain with Thorn, a dragon, so of course, he knows the finer tunings of flying after discussing the topic with him late at night! Reviews anyone?


	7. Picket Fences vs Moats

(A/N): Hey Guys! Second chapter in less than a day! So, these last two chapters, not much has been happening, but I can assure you, it will get better. Hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Raven, Mitchell and the subplot line.

Reviewers: Thanks guys, you are awesome!

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><p>Murtagh<p>

The nine of us flew above the clouds, up where the air was thin, the wind was cold, and the sun was warm. I could hear Nudge talking to Max in front of me. I hung back with Raven and Mitchell, not really comfortable with the Flock, and worried that they were suddenly going to crash into an airplane or something.

Suddenly, Max's hands flew to her skull and her wings folded in, making her drop like a stone. I pumped my wings harder and tilted them downwards before she had even dropped a foot. I wrapped my arms around her waist as I reached her and immediately changed the direction of my wings, slowing us to a stop, hovering there for a second before pushing them down, again and again until I had made it back up to the others, who were only just realizing what had happened, other than Nudge and Raven of course. Nudge because she had been the first to see Max lose it, and Raven because she could probably see the individual hairs on the heads of the people on the ground below. Looking around, I noticed that Fang was halfway between us and the others and realised that he must have seen her too but hadn't been able to get to her as fast since he had been in front of her, instead of behind like I had been, and therefore had seen her earlier. I flew over to him and gently passed Max to him, careful not to damage her wings. He gave me a curious look as I handed her over, making a small smile bloom on my lips.

"I think Max would prefer coming to in the arms of someone she trusts." I raised an eyebrow and he looked slightly guilty. "That and I also don't want to get punched in the face if I accidentally put my hands in the wrong place." A rare grin burst onto Fang's face for a second before Max moaned pitifully in his arms and the grin was replaced with a worried frown. I rolled my eyes and started back towards Raven and Mitchell as we started again.

"Ugh, just kiss already." I groaned quietly as I reached Raven and Mitchell, my words carried away in the wind.

"Hey Murtagh, I'm bored." I turned my head to look at Raven as she said this before rolling my eyes.

"And?" She scowled at me before flying closer to me for a second to clip my wing with hers, the equivalent as a slap on the arm.

"Let's play questions!" I rolled my eyes again. Questions was a game we developed back in the School that we played whenever we got bored, which was often.

"Fine. What's the first question?" She thought about it for a second before turning to me.

"What would you say is your greatest talent?" I scoffed, thinking. Well, I could say murder, but I think that would freak her out.

"Archery." She raised her eyebrows and started laughing, doubling over in the air she was laughing so hard, causing the others to look back at us.

"Archery? Where the hell did you learn archery?" Mitchell asked from Raven's other side, chuckling loudly also.

"I've been learning archery pretty much since I was born. My father insisted on it." All of the Flock members – except for Max, who was still unconscious – raised their eyebrows and exchanged astonished looks.

"You have a father?" I turned to look at them, with their shocked faces, and forced back a nervous chuckle.

"Yes. I have a father, a mother and a half-brother. Or, should I say, had a mother and father." Their eyebrows lowered slightly as they realised what I was saying. "Oh, I'm not sad about it. Well, at least not my fathers death that is. After all, he was a basta- bad man! A very bad man." I reiterated as Fang glared at me, silently telling me not to swear in front of the younger kids.

"So, you know who your parents are? You met them?" I nodded at Fang's quiet questions before turning my attention to Angel as she spoke up.

"Back in the School, you said that your mother named you. What was it like having a mother?" She asked quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Well, I don't know that much really. I mean, she did die when I was three or four, and I rarely saw her when she was alive. I mean, my father wouldn't let her, even when she wasn't going on her missions." Iggy quirked an eyebrow at my explanation.

"You didn't exactly have the most normal of childhoods did you?" I rolled my eyes before realizing he couldn't see me.

"Rolling my eyes Iggy, and no, I didn't." Iggy shrugged and turned his sightless eyes to the ground.

"Just thought I'd ask. Besides, you don't look like the picket fence type." I gave him one of my rare grins, even though he couldn't see it, and watched raven from the corner of my eye.

"My turn. What's a picket fence?" She turned to look at me quizzically for a second before bursting out laughing.

"You know about the laws of gravity and physics but not what a picket fence is? My god, what else did those White Coats neglect to teach you?" I shrugged and chuckled at her quietly.

"We don't exactly have picket fences where I come from. More like moats, actually." Her head snapped around and she stared at me for a minute while I ignored her gaze. When she finally turned her attention back to flying, I hear her mutter 'moats' under her breath once before shaking her head.

"Okay, my question. Um…have you ever been in love?" This time the others turned around as I avoided her eyes.

"Yes." I answered curtly, only to get an astonished look from Raven and Mitchell before Fang started talking to Max, who was now just waking up from her fit.

"What happened while I was out?" She groaned, rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers, trying to relieve some of the excess pain. I winced, and, taking pity on her, shoved my left hand in my pocket before whispering two words, reaching for the magic.

"Waise Heill." Looking around, I noticed that no one had seen my little magic act, or the fact that my Gedwey Ignasia ad flared up with light for a second before going out again. Max paused in her head rubbing and sighed in relief, making me smile slightly.

"Well, we have learned more about the mystery that is Murtagh after he saved your life." As max turned her head to look at me, I pretended to scan the ground below as if I could see every little detail.

"What did you learn?" She asked quietly, almost quietly enough to escape my hearing, but not quiet enough.

"Well, he considers his greatest talent to be Archery." Max raised her eyebrows before nodding to tell Fang to continue. "He doesn't know what a picket fence is, he had a mother a father and a brother, although his parents are dead, and he's been in love." I grinned for a second after he said this, watching Max's reaction from the corner of my eye.

"Half-brother, actually." I called to them, startling them enough for their heads to snap around once again. "And I still am in love." I saw Raven look away from the corner of my eye but ignored the movement, focusing on Max and Fang.

"Anything else you'd like to tell us?" I considered it for a second before shaking my head 'no'.

"No, I think that's all for now."

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><p>(AN): Okay, so the girl Murtagh is in love with is obviously Nasuada, and you must remember that this set after the third book, so not many of the things from the fourth book will be the same, but trust me, there are reasons for this! Review please!


	8. Matches and Nasuada

(A/N): Hey Guys! Sorry this authors note is so short, but my laptop is running out of charge, fast. I hope you like this chapter, and more will be coming soon.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Raven Mitchell and the subplot line.

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><p>Murtagh<p>

An hour or so later we had landed and were beginning to make camp. Iggy was trying to start a fire, and I was watching him intently, wondering how anyone could start a fire without a flint.

"What are those?" I asked curiously as Iggy pulled a pack of small wooden sticks with red tips from his pocket. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Raven and Mitchell all turned to look at me disbelievingly.

"You don't know what matches are?" Iggy asked incredulously, staring down directly at me as I sat cross-legged near where he was trying to light the fire.

"Mat-ches?" I asked, confused. "They just look like sticks to me. Do they help you start a fire?" They all stood there gaping at me, except for Angel.

"You can't be serious-" Iggy was cut off by a slap on the arm from Angel as she walked over to my side and sat down, latching onto my arm tightly.

"Be quiet Iggy, after all, it's not like you would know what matches were if you grew up in a different world." My eyebrow quirked upwards slightly, completely by surprise, not choice, as she said this. Max and Fang turned around from where they stood a few meters away, staring at Angel and I.

"What do you mean 'a different world', Angel?" Angel twisted her neck to look over her shoulder, smiling an innocent smile that reminded me of Elva.

"Don't you know Max? Murtagh grew up in a different world, and was brought here by the White Coats for experimenting." Max looked really skeptical.

"You must be joking Angel. Murtagh, she's joking right?" I just turned my face away to look at the ground and started rolling a thin twig between my fingers. "Murtagh?" After I avoided her gaze again, she sighed and sat down on my other side, resting her palm on my shoulder reassuringly. "So they just…pulled you from your world? With no goodbyes or anything?" I looked at her sadly and nodded before turning my attention back to the twig. "How old were you? I mean, you don't look a day over maybe nineteen, but you looked the same when I last saw you as well, so…" I chuckled quietly before looking at her sideways.

"I was nineteen and a half when a strange green light swallowed me up and delivered me to the White Coats. They _made_ me what I am Max, I wasn't born this way. Hell, the only reason I know how to fly is because of watching so many nature films about birds and Thorn-" I cut my self off, my eyes falling back to the ground as I winced at what I had just said.

"Thorn? Who's Thorn?" Raven asked quietly from a few feet in front of me.

"Thorn is tied for first place with the woman I love as the most important person in my life." I saw Max's face light up in recognition before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Wait a minute…you told me earlier you got that mark after you were bonded with the most important person in you life. Murtagh…are you married?" I snorted straight away before releasing a booming laugh, turning to face Max with raised eyebrows.

"No Max, I'm not married. Even if I was married, I wouldn't have this mark." I held up my left hand and the others – save Max – gasped as they saw the Gedwey Ignasia on my palm. "No, what her and I have is frowned upon where I'm from. I don't blame the Varden for hating me, I mean I did-" I cut myself off again just before I revealed another dark secret and cleared my throat. "So, would anyone else like to talk now?" They all shook their heads, except for Angel who squeezed my arm reassuringly.

"I have a question." I turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "I keep catching snippets of your thoughts-" She faltered in her words as I tightened my mind-shield to keep her out. "And, well, I was wondering who you keep thinking about. Someone called 'Elva'?" I grimaced just before the others burst into a loud chorus of questions.

"Is she the girl you love?" Max asked excitedly, making me scrunch my nose up in disgust.

"Ew! For one, she was like, two years old last time I saw her, and two, I don't think I could be with someone who threw up so often." The others grimaced and looked disgusted too before Angel spoke up again.

"But I heard you, you kept thinking that she and I were alike!" Angel cried and tried to hide her face in hr shirt.

"I just meant, because you're both very young but no much more than you're supposed to, because you're both mindreaders of sorts." Angel small head crept up from her shirt, still looking rather sullen, but not as angry.

"So, they have mindreaders where you're from?" Max asked, staring at me curiously before Angel snorted.

"Have them? Murtagh is one!" The others immediately looked alarmed before I held my hands up as a gesture of peace and calm.

"It's true that I could read you minds if I wanted to, but to be honest, I really, really don't. Besides, it works both ways. Angel can read my mind – sometimes- when I'm not on guard, because when I relax I let my mind-shield down slightly." The others looked confused and afraid.

"So wait, you have a 'mind-shield'? What's that?" I rolled my eyes at Fang's question.

"Exactly what it sounds like, it protects me from mental attack and mind reading." Their eyebrows furrowed and I sighed.

"Last night, when the others were sleeping, you said you would keep watch, and that you couldn't sleep when you had people chasing you. What did you mean? You've mentioned being hunted by the 'Varden' before, but what are the Varden?' Raven asked, making every ones eyes turned to her.

"The Varden are my enemy…and my friends." I explained before falling silent again. I felt something shift in my mind and slammed maybe quarter of my mental force against Angel, recognizing her mind immediately as she trickled through the slight cracks in my mental armor I had left intentionally, making her freeze in place.

"You shouldn't go through other peoples mind without permission Angel, you might just find something you don't like." I said without looking at her, feeling everyone's eyes turn to her and take in her frozen form.  
>"What happened?" max cried in a panic, swooping to her 'baby's' side.<p>

"She'll be fine in a minute." I said curtly before standing up and starting to walk over to where I had set up my bed for the night.  
>"Who's Nasuada?" I froze mid-step as Angel's voice rang through the clearing and I winced before all their eyes fell on me. I shook my head and continued on my way.<p>

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><p>(AN): I tried updating this story yesterday, but wasn't loading. Please review!


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